RSD Alert

www.rsdalert.co.uk

Warning and encouraging

This site exists to increase awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (traditionally known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) and to encourage those who already have this chronic pain condition.

My success in fighting off RSD symptoms was largely due to an early diagnosis, but it took a lot of determination to face the pain. For all that, it is a remission rather than a permanent cure and I still keep up the battle to retain the gains I have made. My wrist and arm frequently remind me that they are vulnerable, by stiffening up, by reacting to cold weather and by small twinges that could become pain if I let them. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy attacks in various ways but, if yours is a hand injury, you may benefit from this explanation of the exercises I use to maintain flexibility and beat the pain
	Flexibility is paramount and I frequently flex and clench my formerly injured hand. It is a daily routine that becomes more frequent whenever I sense that the muscles might be seizing up. Paralysis means pain in my experience - and I'm not having that.
	In similar vein, I exercise my fingers individually, making sure they will all bend, flex, touch each other and go straight again. I recall a sense of triumph when I first managed to touch little finger to thumb 3 months after the accident. It hurt, but I knew I was winning.
	I laughed when I first saw this one. At the time my hand was tightly curled shut in the opposite direction and this seemed impossible. The pain of getting there was terrible, but the more flexibility I gained the less pain I felt.
	By flexing my wrist up and down, sometimes pushing it with the other hand or pressing it over the arm of a chair, I push back the occasional twinges of 'pain'.
	...and by turning the hand sideways I ensure that flexibility applies in all directions.
These exercises were appropriate to me, with my original fracture completely healed and having undergone nine months of physiotherapy under supervision. However, I am not medically qualified and you may need to take professional advice about your own exercise routine. The point I want to make is that we don't have to lie down and allow the pain to take us over. My remission was gained, and is being maintained, by pushing through the pain Derrick Phillips

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